The Head at FC Barcelona's Legal Department tells us what it's like to work with one of the biggest clubs in the world and how the team of legal advisors works

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Cristina Belloque: "In a club like ours, it is not enough to be a technically prepared lawyer"

Cristina Belloque has been a lawyer specialising in sports law for many years.  She works in the Legal Department of FC Barcelona and now she is also the director of the MBA organised by ITTI Sports Institute in collaboration with Barça Innovation Hub.

The Impact Lawyers (TIL): Why did you choose to dedicate yourself to sports law?

Cristina Belloque (C.B.): Actually, it was not a premeditated decision. Initially, my career as a lawyer was more oriented towards procedural practice; I always wanted to be a lawyer because of an idealistic vision of justice and because I loved (and still love) orality and argumentation in the courtroom. Later, I had the opportunity, for a time, to take on the challenge of joining the Club's legal department and it is here where, among many other things, I discovered, learned and deepened my knowledge of sports law which, until then, was unknown to me and yet, today, has become the discipline that is most present in my day-to-day life.

TIL: What does your day-to-day work in FCB's legal department consist of?

C.B.: The truth is that every day is different, basically I coordinate the distribution and planning of issues to be addressed in the consultancy, trying to ensure coherence between the legal solutions we give to the ordinary matters of the different areas of the Club that we cover. The size of the Club and the diversity in the lines of activity and business mean that the legal team is in constant and frenetic activity, everything is different, urgent and relevant. Every day is a challenge, we could say that we are always playing a Champions League final, which means that the level of responsibility and tension is extremely high, but so is the passion and satisfaction with which we work. Pure adrenaline.

TIL: How many lawyers work in FCB's legal department?

C.B.: Currently the legal department is made up of a team of 14 professionals, 12 lawyers and 2 paralegals who help us in the management and administration. The legal department is headed by Pere Lluis Mellado. As for me, in addition to supporting Pere in strategic matters, I coordinate the work of the team. Each of the lawyers who make up the legal department specialises in one of the areas of law related to the Club's core activities. As I said before, the activities and lines of business of each area are very diverse, as are their advisory needs, and we provide support to all of them with the particularities required by each one.

TIL: How does an in-house lawyer differ from a lawyer in a law firm?

C.B.: Well, from the point of view of in-house legal advice, for me the added value provided by all the in-house professionals who make up the team is fundamental, not only because of the high technical level they have as experienced professionals, but also because of the deep knowledge they have of the Club, how it works, its risks and the relevance of each of the steps we take. In a club like ours, it is not enough to be a technically prepared lawyer; it is essential to know, understand and protect the entity we are advising. Hence, in our case, the role of in-house lawyers is fundamental.

And this does not mean that, in certain cases, or in areas of law in which we do not specialise, we have excellent external partners with whom we collaborate to protect the interests and rights of the Club with the same guarantees.

TIL: Do you work with external law firms?

C.B.: As I said, yes, in some matters or specific issues we work with external partners.

TIL: Is specific training necessary to practice sports law?

C.B.: In part yes. In reality, we talk about sports law, but, in my opinion, there is still no consolidated sports law as such. The lawyer who is dedicated to sports matters must have a deep knowledge of civil and commercial law and, of course, the same common sense as a good lawyer who is dedicated to any other field of law; however, he or she must study and have a deep knowledge of the organisational structures of sports, and especially the rules and regulations that emanate from these bodies since they are the ones that govern the activity and contracting in the field of sports and contain the particularities that we must consider when we approach the assessment of certain situations and conflicts.

TIL: You are the director of the MBA organised by ITTI Sports Institute in collaboration with the Barça Innovation Hub, what is special about this programme?

C.B.: This programme offers a global vision of the management of a 360-degree sports entity, addressing the most relevant aspects that it must face, both from an external perspective, analysing the relationship with bodies that condition the activity from a commercial, financial, fiscal and legal point of view, and from an in-depth internal perspective, with the particularity and added value that, thanks to Barça Innovation Hub, the majority of the professionals involved are key players in the most important areas of the Club, and it also has consolidated professionals from outside the Club who are leading experts in the field of sport.

TIL: Which professor had the biggest impact on your career?

C.B.: Well, I think José Ramón Salelles, professor of commercial law at the Universitat Pompeu Fabra, at a time in my life when attending law classes was frankly a challenge, this professor managed to capture and maintain attention, awakening interest with his way of explaining and transmitting. He was a great teacher.

TIL: Do you like football, or do you like Culé?

C.B.: Well, the truth is that after a few years, I have learnt to understand football and everything that surrounds this sport, my day to day life is football and the truth is that yes, I like it, and above football, what I really like and what is already an inseparable part of my life is Barça. Did I cheat? Yes, of course, personally and as a family we have Barça at heart.

TIL: A pending trip

C.B.: Egypt

TIL: A book to recommend

C.B.: I love Patria by Fernando Aramburu.

TIL: An unrepeatable film

C.B.: Best Impossible starring Jack Nicholson and Helen Hunt.